The present invention relates to ink-jet printing systems that make use of a replaceable printing component. More particularly, the present invention relates to replaceable printing components that include an electrical storage device for providing information to the printing system.
Ink-jet printers frequently make use of an ink-jet printhead mounted within a carriage that is moved back and forth across a print media, such as paper. As the printhead is moved across the print media, a control system activates the printhead to deposit or eject ink droplets onto the print media to form images and text. Ink is provided to the printhead by a supply of ink that is either carried by the carriage or mounted to the printing system to not move with the carriage. For the case where the ink supply is not carried with the carriage, the ink supply can be intermittently or continuously connected to the printhead for replenishing the printhead. In either case, the replaceable printing components, such as the ink container and the printhead, require periodic replacement. The ink supply is replaced when exhausted. The printhead is replaced at the end of printhead life.
It is frequently desirable to alter printer parameters concurrently with the replacement of printer components such as discussed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/584,499 entitled xe2x80x9cReplaceable Part With Integral Memory For Usage, Calibration And Other Dataxe2x80x9d assigned to the assignee of the present invention. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/584,499 discloses the use of a memory device, which contains parameters relating to the replaceable part. The installation of the replaceable part allows the printer to access the replaceable part parameters to insure high print quality. By incorporating the memory device into the replaceable part and storing replaceable part parameters in the memory device within the replaceable component the printing system can determine these parameters upon installation into the printing system. This automatic updating of printer parameters frees the user from having to update printer parameters each time a replaceable component is newly installed. Automatically updating printer parameters with replaceable component parameters insures high print quality. In addition, this automatic parameter updating tends to ensure the printer is not inadvertently damaged due to improper operation, such as, operating after the supply of ink is exhausted or operation with the wrong or non-compatible printer components.
One aspect of the present invention is a replaceable ink container for providing ink to an inkjet printing system. The inkjet printing system has a plurality of print modes with each print mode having an ink usage rate associated therewith. The replaceable ink container includes an information storage device containing print mode control information. The installation of the replaceable ink container into the inkjet printing system allows the print mode control information to be provided to the inkjet printing system. This print mode control information is used by the printing system for selecting a print mode from the plurality of print modes based on available ink within the replaceable ink container.